loving lazy sunny sundays

Such a sunny, beautiful day out. . .I could barely tell it was under 30 degrees! When I got to the barn, Shyloh was taking her usual between noon and one nap. She was standing, so I went to the heated barn to chat and have a sloppy joe lunch with my barn buddies. When I got done, Shy was just beginning to move, but it was not because she was awake. . .she moved to another sunny spot to lay.

I love love love that she lays outside. Have I mentioned that before? She never did that at the old barn, but here, I catch her napping and laying quite often. 

I was hoping for some snuggle time, but Shy got up. Oh well. We did our lunging and stretches, then went back in the sun to hang out. And Shy got her wormer.

Kisses anyone?

Shy was very mischievous today. She stuck her foot then her head in a bucket. . .she dumped her food. . .she kept grabbing a towel out of her grooming bag. . .she kept kicking and picking up another bucket. . .ate a carrot off of a snowman's face. . .then she would smile in my face about all of it.  Silly pony!

There was no reason for the foot in the bucket. . .

She was convinced something tasty was in there

Shy would much rather eat from the snow

My friend Terry came to visit and Shy was extra cute for her. . .it helped that Terry had brought some carrots! Then Terry headed Shy and I climbed up on her. Ugh. . .my balance is atrocious! I need to work on that!

And. . .has the shedding begun?

It's there, I promise!

See that? It is a lone hair from her blaze, fallen out all on her own. 

Why is Shy the only horse that has not begun her shedding? All the other horses are shedding like crazy. I tried pulling hairs out, but they are rooted in deep. Perhaps Shy wants to be a shaggy beast for forever? Perhaps Shy's body knows something about the weather that we don't? I hope not! While I am not looking forward to all the shedding, I am looking forward to sleek and shiny pony. 

More naps. Pony life is hard work!

What a pleasantly perfect Sunday at the barn.

monday musings by shyloh #61

Fashion Show!

Allie got me a few new things and I got to model them. Because I am a super fuzzy super model. And super cute. I don't think I am cut out to be a super model though. . .it gets super boring and I was falling asleep by the end of it. And it does not involve eating grass. 

1. 

New western bridle. It's cute and it fits just right. It has a knot thing right in the middle of the brow band, so there is a tiny bit of flair to this bridle. Brand new and a great deal!  Now I just need a matching breastcollar. . .and a saddle. . .nah, I don't need a saddle.

2.

English bridle! What?? Allie said she got a really good deal on this and could not pass it up. And it came with reins. It is a hunt bridle. I wonder what I will get to hunt in it? Hopefully hay! Allie was told it was cob sized, but its not. . .it just fits right on the smallest holes. I am so beautiful in this bridle, it's blinding and I have to close my eyes.

3.

Teal rope halter. Allie has never used a rope halter before, but she said for 8 bucks for the halter and lead, she couldn't pass it up! Now she just needs to figure out knots. . .knots are her weakness!

4.

Bell boots. Kinda cheap, but they have velcro to secure them. I promise they are not tight on my legs, I am just so fuzzy! I don't really need them, but they are good to have.

5. Polo wraps. Navy blue. Everyone knows what polo wraps look like and everyone knows what navy blue is. Allie was too lazy to wrap my legs. But polo wraps are good to have, too. 

6.

Cooler. (not bought at tack sales) I think it makes me look like a mini! But I will only be wearing this for a short time and only if I get sweaty. So probably never, since I rarely sweat. Although it was comfy and seemed to fit really well. I have to give Allie kudos on this since she have never bought any type of blanket before and didn't know what would fit me. Happily for me, I won't ever be turned out in this, could you imagine what my herd would think? I am already the smallest horse out there and this is not flattering to my height at all. 

7. Shipping boots. (also not bought at tack sales) Allie could not find any cob sized boots for a reasonable price. So she went with horse size. Eh. . .they are a little long. So Allie asked the lady who fixed the surcingle if she could cut some off and sew to the right length. The lady said yes, so Allie needs to get the measurements. 

I will soon be a fully loaded horse, minus a saddle. . .

Wormer smile!! Yeah, I got that, too. . .

~Shyloh

routine maintenance

Isn't the dream of owning a horse the picturesque "riding off into the sunset"? When you have the dream, no one tells you about the day to day dirty stuff that needs to be done to maintain a horse's health. For the longest time, I could not pick hooves, the smell made me gag. Then there is the poop, oh all the poop! And if you have a gelding. . .good luck cleaning that sheath.

Today, I had to de-worm Shyloh. Her fecal sample came back positive for worms, so Mike picked up some paste from the vet for me to administer. So far, Shy has eaten anything that comes in contact with her mouth without a problem. Thank goodness the de-wormer was no different! Shy took it like a champ! Robin gave me a little scare saying that it tastes bad and sometimes horses spit it out. But, I am pretty sure Shy has been de-wormed before. . .she was looking at me (as I was reading the instructions), like hey, I know what that is and I can clearly tell you do not know what to do with it! 

Little bit of paste on her mouth

Next, I decided to clean her teats. I have attempted a few times before, but I never went through with it. . .those cow kicks are quite intimidating! But today I had the time and I brought the baby oil. It took about 20 minutes, but I did it! At first, Shy was not happy. I had to adjust some of the things I usually do. I attached the lead rope while she was in the cross ties and put the excess over her back. When she cocked her leg as I was running the towel under her, I told her no! If she raised her leg off the ground, I put pressure on the lead rope that was attached to her halter. As soon as she put her leg back down, I released the pressure, then I started over. If I could run the towel underneath without her doing anything, I praised her. I should mention that I used warm water and baby oil on the towel. Eventually, I was able to get all the gunk out of her teats! I think she actually enjoyed it!

Shy's first reaction was to back herself into the corner as far as she could to avoid the teat cleaning. . .

Kathy came up to the barn and offered to let Shy try on her saddle. It fit well, so I was going to take Shy into the arena to walk her around and work on mounting block behaviors. 

Whoa! I got a totally different Shyloh than the one I have been working with recently! She reverted back to the old Shy, the one that first came to the barn. She refused to go into the arena, then refused to walk once I got her in there. Her ears were back. She started doing her nervous licking behavior. What was going on? She had a saddle on yesterday and was fine, but I did not ask her to do anything in it. Since Shy has only been ridden a few times with me, I am thinking that either a) she is upset about having a saddle on and the possibility of carrying a rider or b) something bad happened to her in the saddle. Who knows. . . ? I do know that she spent a short time at a trail riding park, all saddled up and ready to go each day, so I am guessing she had some bad rides.

Not a happy pony

Fortunately, Kathy is being generous enough to let me use her saddle to work Shyloh in it. And that is what I am going to do. . . saddle her up to work her so she can get comfortable in it. I know I have said this before, but that saddle didn't work out. I will take as long as I need to let Shyloh know that she can trust me, with or without a saddle on her back.

Kathy on pretty Shamon. I wanted a better picture, but my phone battery was drained.

After I put Shy back outside and gave her some hay, Robin had a lesson with Beth. She was doing long lining with Ryleigh. I was there to watch, but Robin invited me into her lesson to let me try long-lining with him! It was amazing and Beth taught me a lot about the whole process. I cannot wait to try this out with Shy!  I really love our barn! In addition to having friends there that came from the old barn, all of the other boarders are very friendly and helpful!

Robin and Ryleigh with the long lines!